SEOUL, Jul 23, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- South Korean retailer Lotte Shopping Co. said Wednesday it plans to open its first department store in Vietnam in 2013.
For the project, Lotte signed a contract with Coralis SA to purchase the Luxembourg-based property developer's license for 69.7 billion won (US$55.7 million) to build a commercial complex in Hanoi, the company said in a statement.
The department store will be located at the 65-story building in Hanoi, to be built at the commercial complex by Lotte and its affiliates.
Lotte and the affiliates will spend a total of 350 billion won for the project, according to the statement.
Once completed, the department store in Hanoi will be Lotte's fourth overseas department store.
Lotte opened its first overseas department store in Moscow of Russia in 2007 and operates two outlets in China.
Park Geum-soo, head of overseas business at Lotte Department Store, said in the statement that the company would accelerate its push to make inroads into emerging markets such as Vietnam, Russia and India
architect: Thinkscape Team3 (Malaysia) investor: Doan Ket Village Co. Ltd.
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Named “The Lotus”, the award-winning design was inspired by the lotus bud, a homage to the local culture and history. The design also represents the Asian clasp-palms that symbolises offering and sincerity; while the two-halves of the tower reflect the East Asian philosophy of balance and harmony.
Instead of the usual "glass-box" design, the exterior of this tower consists a jigsaw of metal shutters from individual units. As individual dwellers open and close their shutters, the texture of the building evolves – thus ensuring the tower will never look exactly the same at any given time. This also mimics the lotus in a pond, which blooms and closes at different time of a day.